Jesus and True Greatness - Luke #90

Ballard Campus 9-11-11 Pastor Mark Driscoll
Tags: Leaders, Greatness, Serving, Comedy, Marriage
Luke 22:24-30
Jesus and True Greatness
Story of talking to a political manager, explaining the gospel's monuments as people
Mars Hill is just like a campaign manager, everyone remembers the candidate not the campaign manager
+We don't want to leave an amazing monument about us, but we will leave behind the people who met an amazing God
The dumbest argument in the History of the World
12 guys and Jesus in a circle arguing about whose the best
Instead of mocking and shaming them Jesus redirects their desires
The pursuit of greatness is not evil but we can't pursue it as the World presents it
Filter for good things that God has made that have been twisted by sin
+Receive Greatness - as the World sees it
+Reject Greatness - see it as bad even though Gpd made it to be pursued
+Redeem Greatess - Pursue greatness in the way that God would have you to, rejecting arrogance, but desiring the things of God
We ought not reject greatness but pursue redeemed greatness
Seek Godly Greatness
The non-Christians are using greatness as a means to rule and have authority for its own sake
+In the World, the job, ministry, organization, or movement is all about the Leader's glory
Today the goal is to have so much power that everyone serves you and provides you with awesome experiences
Experience Economy - from Commodities to good to service to experience
Barista is the Greek word for punching bag
The Clerks at the Bank and the Ticket counter clerks at the Airport
Jesus says that the greatest are the ones who serve others
+the implications from this statement: treating those in the service sector, we should tip well even if the service sucks
+Isaiah 44-66 is all about Jesus as the Suffering Servant
Greatness is simply service

Do you welcome Jesus to Serve you?
Jesus is not like the dad who says I will love you when/if you get your life sraight
Jesus delights to serve us and build us into servants to help and love other people
Do you humbly allow others to serve you?
+No.  I feel terrible when someone gives me anything.  My heart is hard and arrogant I the area of service.  A friend gave me $200 cash.  I couldn't even talk with it in my hand.  It was too much.  I am so arrogant that I feel like it's my job to give money to other people, to give them my hand-man skills, or to give them food, or to be the one who has it all together.
One of the ways we serve others is by allowing them to serve us.
Marriage: I will rob my spouse of the honor to serve when I act like I don't need anything from her. It's like saying, "There is no place in my life for you."
Do I humbly serve others with selfless motives?
+No. I want to be in control and have my life together.
Are you willing to do menial tasks?
+Yes.
Jesus started doing a menial job, then humbly served thousands for a brief time, then he served billions by dying on the Cross.
+The result of this service in the heart of a Christian is a new heart that desires to serve others.
+The same word where Jesus is talking about serving is the word Deacon
Am I lazy or disorganized?
+No.  I tend to organize everything.
Is my life marked more by getting stuff for myself or giving stuff away?
Would you rather achieve a status or make a difference?

Jesus lived a life that made a difference even though he died in dishonor

Seek Eternal Greatness
Do I practicly over look the truth that this life is only the beginning?
+A relationship is not that big of a deal, this life is just the beginning. I need to give this to Jesus, because he is strong enough to hold it. I need to be humble and accept Jesus' help.
The Big party at the end is like Julia and Bill Simmons' big 40th anniversary party.  Where I get to be in the same room with a truely great man and eat amazing food that is beyond anything I could imagine.
Where Am I on this Continuum?
Selfish          Servant
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am a young single man, I am by definition a selfish jerk; it takes 7-14 years in marriage to go from me to we. But I try to help the Church.
Marriage? N/A
Kids? 1
Friendship? 2
Schooling? N/A
Work? 0
Church? 3
Neighbors? 1
Don't waste my singleness with selfishness, try to use it to grow in humble service.

I feel like a failure because I tried to serve someone and it feels like it was not enough. This is a lie, but damnit it's hard to reject this lie.  Jesus please help me surrender this to you. The truth is that God's plan is the best plan; he will provide at the right time in the right way for the right purpose.
Selfishness leads to misery, it just does, and servanthood leads to joy.

Jesus and True Greatness

Ballard Campus 9-11-11 Pastor Mark Driscoll
Tags: Leaders, Greatness, Serving
Luke 22:24-30
Jesus and True Greatness
Mars Hill is just like a campaign manager, everyone remembers the candidate not the campaign manager
+We don't want to leave an amazing monument about us, but we will leave behind the people who met an amazing God
The dumbest argument in the History of the World
12 guys and Jesus in a circle arguing about whose the best
Instead of mocking and shaming them Jesus redirects their desires
The pursuit of greatness is not evil but we can't pursue it as the World presents it
We ought not reject greatness but pursue redeemed greatness
Seek Godly Greatness
The non-Christians are using greatness as a means to rule and have authority for its own sake.
Today the goal is to have so much power that everyone serves you and provides you with awesome experiences
Experience Economy - from Commodities to good to service to experience
Jesus says that the greatest are the ones who serve others
+the implications from this statement: treating those in the service sector, we should tip well even if the service sucks
+Isaiah 44-66 is all about Jesus as the Suffering Servant

Do you welcome Jesus to Serve you?

Do you humbly allow others to serve you?
+No.  I feel terrible when someone gives me anything.  My heart is hard and arrogant I the area of receiving.  A friend gave me $200 cash.  I couldn't even talk with it in my hand.  It was too much.  I am so arrogant that I feel like it's my job to give money to other people, to give them my building skills, or to give them food, or to be the one who has it all together.
Do I humbly serve others with selfless motives?
+No. I want to be in control and have my life together.
Are you willing to do menial tasks?
+Yes.
Jesus started doing a menial job, then humbly served thousands for a brief time, then he served billions by dying on the Cross.
+The result of this service in the heart of a Christian is a new heart that desires to serve others.
+The same word where Jesus is talking about serving is the word Deacon
Am I lazy or disorganized?
+No.  I tend to organize everything, this may have been a contributing factor to my most recent failure.
Is my life marked more by getting stuff for myself or giving stuff away?
Would you rather achieve a status or make a difference?

Jesus lived a life that made a difference even though he died in dishonor

Seek Eternal Greatness
Do I practicly over look the truth that this life is only the beginning?
+A relationship is not that big of a deal, this life is just the beginning. I need to give this to Jesus, because he is strong enough to hold it. I need to be humble and accept Jesus' help
The Big party at the end is like Julia and Bill Simmons' big 40th anniversary party.  Where I get to be in the same room with a truely great man and eat amazing food that is beyond anything I could imagine.
Where Am I on this Continuum?
Selfish          Servant
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I am a young single man, I am by definition a selfish jerk.
Marriage?
Friendship?
Schooling?
Work?
Church?
Don't waste my singleness with selfishness, try to use it to grow in humble service.

I feel like a failure because I tried to serve someone and it feels like it was not enough. This is a lie, but damnit it's hard to reject this lie.  Jesus please help me surrender this to you. The truth is that God's plan is the best plan; he will provide at the right time in the right way for the right purpose.
Selfishness leads to misery, it just does, and servanthood leads to joy.

Jesus and the Last Supper

Ballard Church          8-28-11 Pastor Dave Bruskas
Tags: Communion, Fear, Horror, Love
Luke 22:1-23
Jesus and the Last Supper
What does Communion mean to Jesus?
Communion should not be about my weaknesses and my struggles it's about Jesus

The Scene
Passover arrives and the priest and the scribes are trying to initiate a plan to kill Jesus.
Jesus is taking the center stage of the Passover feast and the religious establishment is losing power and influence.  To get rid of Jesus publicly they would face a horrible PR situation
Perspective Shift - God looking into the situation, not my prespective
Satan is working in the story by taking Judas and using the situation of the Priests and Scribes
The Priests find their mole into Jesus organization in Judas
In Acts 2, Peter says that Jesus' death was part of God the Father's plan to finish the struggle
Jesus' plan is better than mine.

Pastor Bruskas' Story
His mom was an alcoholic, she started crying attends a bible study, gets saved, his dad is later saved
From 7th grade Dave prays for a  son who will change the world for God, he continues for 13 years.  He marries and has a little boy. The little one can't breath and is heaving in despiration to live.
Dave prayed asking Jesus to honor his plan to have this special son.  God responded by saying join me on my plan to change the World through his son, Jesus.
For me, I can only control a tiny part of the World and if I try to live independently, I will be perenially disappointed.

Jesus' word is more Reliable than Mine
Jesus laid out the precise plan to eat the Passover to John and it all worked out exactly
The dsiciples' words are unreliable yet everytime Jesus speaks it is always trustworth and true
My word is just like the disciples, it is unreliable
The truth is that the word of jesus keeps our relationship alive, not my word and my pledges

Pastor Bruskas' Story
After all the surgeries didn't help, he developed ulcers and started to bleed
Dave was done, he couldn't bear it any more, he could even pray.
There is no way I am strong enough to withstand the blow of a sickening and dying little one. This is my second greatest fear in life. God, if it's your will that I be married and have little ones great, your will be done. But I am afraid, just to avoid my greatest fear (the rape of my wife or my daughter and my unstoppable revenge) or my second greatest fear (the death of my child), I'd almost prefer to live at the 9% of people that never marry. Holy Spirit please help my heart.  You said fear not.  I'm trying but it's very hard.

Repentance
Don't make my relationship with God about what I have vowed, because all my vows are unreliable only his promises are dependable

His Love is Bigger than Mine
Jesus says I have "earnestly desired" to eat this meal
+Jesus is emtionally charged up, he is about to fulfill all of Passover he is eating with his men who he is about to save them from sin and connect them to the Father
+Jesus is about to shower love on his men by dying for them
+Jesus is fulfilling the promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the Earth through the coming descendents
+Jer 31 - New Covenant is coming with God's law written on their hearts, they will have their sin forgiven, God says, "I will..." God will come and change things and fix this problem

Pastor Dave's Story
His little boy died on Dec 15th. They unplugged him.
Dave's mind was still foggy and his heart was still cold.
Jesus showed up and told Dave, "I got this, this is why I came"

Jesus' Disciples
After this amazing moment of intimacy with God, they begin to argue over who is the greatest among them

Communion
What does this meal mean to Jesus?
He loves us so much that he died, he want nothing he only gives and changes us and gives us all that we need to walk is a new truely worshipful life

Where do I have a plan for my life that is not God's plan and I am holding onto instead of holding onto Jesus?

The Inebriated Preacher

Pastor Hughes 09-09-10 Ballard Campus
1 Tim 4:13-16
The Inebriated Preacher
Progress
This kind of preacher uses the Bible the way a drunk uses a lamp post, for support not for illumination.
Basically we come with a set of preconceptions that we lay in the Bible instead of coming to it with hands empty to learn and by the ghost's grace understand

Verses of Dire Warning for Preachers - Act 11:28-30, 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:1-4


Hughes on Men
Why are real men completely absent from churches in the United States?
A real man knows that life sucks, relationships fall appart, ships sink, people die, life is short, poverty is crouching at the door.
+Saying Jesus is just a means to an end smells like a lie to any man who lives in reality.
+Preaching the risen Christ who lived a horrible life and was murdered, yet after rising still stands with us even as we are blindsided and limp toward the Kingdom rings true, it is a hard word, but it is a transformative word, by the grace of the Ghost.

2nd Timothy

Pastor Dave Bruskas 09-09-11 Ballard Campus
2 Tim Chapter 2
2nd Timothy
**this Sermon was designed just for Re:Train, the preaching of the word done by a seasoned preacher**
Paul is trying to fan the flame of the fire God place in Timothy
Paul is trying to create an image in Tim's mind to inspire him and give him an "aha" moment
Explanation of the cultural reference
In a weathy house all the instruments used for proper use were made of gold
Also chamber pots were used to remove human and food waste
What is the message Paul is communicating?
There are those who belong to Jesus and teach a true gospel
There are enemies of God who prevert truth and ruin people
Danger: believing the lie that if I want to be a good preacher then I need to clean myself up first
The essence of being Holy in Christ is that I am set appart for Jesus to use in his house, we sit ready and waiting excitedly for God to use us because he has readied and transformed me

The Melodic Line

Pastor Justin Holcomb 09-09-10 Ballard Campus
The Melodic Line
There is the Simian Trust Group present
The importance of the succession of notes that give a song a unique / organic quality that sticks with you
Motiffs and figures combined together delivers the force of something done right, something that feels complete
The Melodic Line is the hook that captures my attention

Hamilton's Melodic Line book shows in scripture how the over-arching story of the Bible is communicated using a string of metaphorical notes to tell the story

How to find a Melodic Line for an entire book of the Bible 
A preacher needs to be able to see these lines when they teach books of the Bible so they are focused and effective in communicating the point of the author (the Ghost)
Look for Top Tail of a book / passage
Look for Repetition (Words, concepts, Inclusio {lead-in and close-out character or phrase that act as parantheses for a passage or even book in scripture})
Look for paranthetical structure of text
Look for a thesis statement by the author

Testing for a Melodic Line
Does it frame or make sense of the rest of the text?
Danger: Doing violence to the text - placing a systematic theology over the text

Example - Book for Jude
From 1,2 and 24,25
Possible Melodic Lines:
+"Keep" or "Keeping" appears over and over - Jesus is awesome because he keeps you, this focus on our passivity and Jesus' activity
++But we see an active "contending" as a balance to the passive keeping
+verses 5-16 show the alternative state of being kept in condemnation, now 1-3 and 24-25 are extra important because of the contrast

Themes and sub-themes are important but they are viewed in light of the larger melodic line of the book.

Recognizing Melodic Lines allows a preacher to pull out even more depth from a passage, all the different variations on the same motiff and the sub themes and the figures from a passage show through; the nuances are brought out

Maturity in Jesus

Ballard Campus 9-3-11 Pastor Bill Clem
Tags: Maturity,
1 John 2:12-14
Maturity in Jesus
To the little children with their sins forgiven, to father, to young men who are strong, to children who know the father
He repeats the children, dads and young men twice
God's forgiveness is the freeing grace that lets us escape from the trap of sin with no progress
Jesus is our advocate to help me when I do sin
1 John 1:9 - we get to know freedom because when we confess our sins to Jesus he will clease us from all unrighteousness
Immature faith is just seeing that Jesus has forgiven my sins and that's it
More mature faith realizes that I was forgiven because God is glorified in forgiving me
Just living in the place where I am going from forgiven on Sunday to forgiven the next Sunday is just an immature responce
Pushing through the place where it doesn't feel like a buzz to the place where I press into Jesus is real maturity
Maturity is not:
+Theological Knowledge
+Accuracy
+Life Experience
+Talents or gifting
++God has spread skills/gifts out throughout the whole body of christ so that we would need eachother.

Is my emotional experience getting less and less real, may mean that God could be transitioning me to mroe solid food and greater maturity
Young Men
Over come the evil one
You have over come the evil one because we have Jesus and he has empowered me.
Maybe when John calls young men as strong, he may be refering to our strength in the Holy Spirit
3rd Couterfeit
Teaching a skill, does not indicate siritutual maturity
The Dark Night of the Soul
When God withholds fruit from a christian to build up maturity
Maturity means that we are no longer center stage
Our relationship with Jesus grows over time and he will remind you of all the times he tookcare of you, all the inside jokes and laughing memories that he shares with me from time to time, there is a reason why I randomly burst into laughter on occasion
More mature people sometimes get the opportunity to see an enemy turned into a new baby
More mature people get to disciple other and see them grow in maturity